Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery

Vera Kelly #2

by Rosalie Knecht

When ex-CIA agent Vera Kelly loses her job and her girlfriend in a single day, she reluctantly goes into business as a private detective. Heartbroken and cash-strapped, she takes a case that dredges up dark memories and attracts dangerous characters from across the Cold War landscape. Before it’s over, she’ll chase a lost child through foster care and follow a trail of Dominican exiles to the Caribbean. Forever looking over her shoulder, she nearly misses what’s right in front of her: her own desire for home, connection, and a new romance at the local bar.


In this exciting second installment of the Vera Kelly series, Rosalie Knecht challenges and deepens the Vera we love: a woman of sparkling wit, deep moral fiber, and martini-dry humor who knows how to follow a case even as she struggles to follow her heart. 

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBT, Audiobook, Queer, Mystery Thriller

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 16, 2020

About the author

Rosalie Knecht is the author of Vera Kelly is not a Mystery (2020), Who is Vera Kelly? (2018) and Relief Map (2016). She is also the translator of César Aira's The Seamstress and the Wind.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Stars. Better than the first book! I’m saving the main review, for the whole series, when I read book three -probably next week- so I’ll keep this short. While I enjoyed the first book quite a bit, I liked this book much more. In the first book, while the writing was quite good, it came across almost a little stiff at times. I noticed a change in this second book of the series and it seemed like this author wasn’t pushing as hard and instead really found her writing grove. It wasn’t really a “fun” storyline, but I had fun reading it. I trusted Rosalie to take me on an interesting mystery ride and she definitely delivered.

[Hayley Durelle]

I would like a Vera Kelly HBO series starring Lizzy Caplan who can I talk to about this

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I tried a joke. 'It's every man for himself around here.'" -- the title character, on page 217

Chalk up Knecht's latest, Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery, as the most unlikely or just unexpected sequel in some time. But maybe that's not quite fair, or even correct. I know I appreciated the fresh move in changing the direction somewhat for the protagonist, and I intuit that it will create better avenues or possibilities for all sorts of subsequent adventures, and establish a solid foundation for a series.

Building on 2018's Who is Vera Kelly? - a pleasing slice of historical fiction crossed with an espionage novel, featuring Ms. Kelly as a low-level CIA operative at the beginning of the Argentine Revolution in '66 - the narrative changes course as Kelly is now back on U.S. soil in August 1967, and quietly working as a film editor for a TV station in New York City. It the opening pages she loses said job AND her girlfriend on the same day (!), and quickly decides to hang out a shingle (per her training in counterintelligence and surveillance, plus fluency in three languages) as the Big Apple's newest private investigator. Her first substantial case is a solid one - she's hired to track down a missing child, a Dominican immigrant who disappeared after the death of his guardian. The assignment gets properly twisty, and things move along at a nice slow-burn of a pace. Kelly is not one of those sharp- or snarkily-tongued P.I.s, and she's not given action scenes to beat the stuffing out of the bad guys and/or go blasting away villains with her pistola. Instead, she methodically works her investigation and keeps her wits about her, thus the suspense really means something when she's caught in a jam late in the story. Also, the closing chapter - with its suggestion of a potential new romance - was tenderly perfect. Please, Ms. Knecht, have Vera Kelly return to handle more assignments!

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2018's Who Is Vera Kelly? Vera was abandoned by the CIA in Argentina. Now she's lost her job and girlfriend in the same day and decides to work as a private investigator (and you know I love that kind of thing!) She gets wrapped up in cold-war Dominican intrigue with dictators, missing children, and social workers.

This book comes out June 16th; I had it a bit early from the publisher.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Knecht’s first book, Vera Kelly was a CIA operative in Argentina during the political tumult of 1966. In this offering, she has left the CIA as she didn’t appreciate being left behind to find her own way out of the country in the middle of a coup. Most recently, Vera has found a way to make money by becoming a private detective, but her CIA training comes in handy with her latest case.

A couple from the Dominican Republic want her to find a 14-year-old boy. They claim to be his relatives. But Felix is the son of a politically endangered family and placed in foster care in the U.S. He was moved to St. Jerome’s when his foster mother passed away, but has since run away and taken an assumed name. Vera quickly suspects the ‘relatives’ are not Felix’s relatives at all, and flies to the Dominican Republic to find the boys’ real parents. Good thing she has CIA skills when the new dictator, Balaguer, suspects her of working with the opposition party. One thing about Vera, she is resourceful in dangerous situations.

Enjoy Knecht’s sardonic, clever ‘spy’!

[Li Sian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book cleared my skin, straightened my spine, and single-handedly restored my love of reading. Vera Kelly is a lesbian, an ex-CIA agent-turned-private investigator, who falls into Dominican politics after being hired to find a missing boy with parents who are wanted by Trujillo's successor. As a deconstruction of classic noir, Knecht's vision and thesis is wildly compelling. What is this thesis, you ask. Well... not only 'what if lesbians were detectives', but 'every detective is by definition a lesbian'.

For example, Sherlock Holmes? A lesbian with a drug habit and no time for the police. Peter Grant? Everyone's favourite lesbian. Miss Marple? Yes, of course. (Miss Marple spends a lot of mystery novels helping out old girlfriends from finishing school, which is very lesbian.) Lord Peter Wimsey: traumatized lesbian. Nancy Drew: lesbian, but annoying. Poirot: lesbian. Philip Marlowe: LESBIAN.

Hear me out! Reclusive, marginal, disgusted by the corruption of a society she's yet unwillingly complicit in... the detective is a mystery to herself, helplessly ensnared by numerous femmes fatale who, in finding hopelessly beautiful, intimidating & dangerous she on some level dehumanizes. The detective is a hurt figure who hurts people. Oh, and she's also over the heterosexual bullshit of clients getting her to spy on their significant others, in order to amass evidence of their adultery (the attainment of which, she points out, is more or less always a Pyrrhic victory).

*continues in this vein for several paragraphs, Detectives Are Lesbians WILL carry the day in this accursed year 2020, goddamnit*

As a queer lover of detective mysteries, this would be reason enough for me to love the book. (Did I also mention that Vera Kelly is and is not a mystery to herself and others - real Johari's window - and also happens to be hopeless at women? Yes! There's also some clueless gay content in here!) That's not all though. Knecht also provides a really thoughtful and considered window into 1960s Brooklyn and the devastating effects of mid-century (then, but if I'm honest also now, and potentially forever) U.S. foreign policy, and the extent to which all Americans, qua moral agents, are complicit in those internecine games.

[Oriana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been ordering so, so many books in quarantine. Haven't we all? It's been a neat exercise to find and support independent and POC-owned shops all over the country, but I've also tried to stay true to my lovely locals, ordering for pickup and then biking all around Brooklyn to get them when they come in.

I had ordered a few things from Word in Greenpoint and got a call that they were there, so I zipped over expecting the same routine it's been for months: call the number on the door, wait for the employee to find my books and slip their arm out the door to drop them on the stoop, then stick them into my bike basket, and go.

But! This time when I pulled up, the shop was open.

I probably should have known this would be true, but I was truly so taken aback. Nonetheless, I swapped my cycling mask for my indoors mask and stepped in. It was such a tumult of conflicting emotions!! On the one hand, here I was, after four isolated months, browsing, actually touching books that were not my own—it was such a balm for my poor soul. On the other, it was wholly terrifying; it felt completely unsafe and reckless to be indoors among strangers for a (relatively) frivolous purpose, and I knew I had to get it done as quickly as possible.

And then—what luck to see this bright yellow spine! I adored Rosalie's previous Vera Kelly book a couple of years ago, and I had no idea it was the first of a series. I scurried home with this and devoured it joyfully in a few days. It was just as scrumptious as the first.

In case you're still wondering, many paragraphs into this internet-recipe of a review, these are spy(ish) novels set in the late 1950s/early 1960s starring queer broad Vera Kelly. The first installment saw Vera's entrée into and subsequent abandonment by the CIA, which sent her to Argentina as the Cold War was roiling that city; this one finds her back home in New York City and post-spook, but not for long. She'll summarily get fired from her radio job due to "immorality" (one of her coworkers catches her on the phone with a woman, heaven forfend!!) and, in Jonathan Ames–type desperation, set herself up as a private eye. Her cases send her trailing perfidious spouses, up to Westchester to pose as a social worker, and down to the Dominican Republic in search of the disappeared family of a missing child.

There are splendid hijinks along the way—loves lost and found, friendships hastily made and desperately tested, bars patronized and raided, Dominican soldiers flirted with and fled from, Dominican cops unwelcomed and trounced—and it's all told in Knecht's crisp, witty, perfectly paced style.

Here, so as not to give anything away but the joy of reading these books, is a tossed-aside passage toward the beginning that has no bearing on the plot whatsoever:

Just after I got home in the evening, my next-door neighbor called to say that squirrels were coming from my roof onto his roof and chewing holes into his attic. I told him I didn't know what I could do about it, since the squirrels hadn't asked me for an easement and my efforts to broker a deal with them regarding my own attic had been unsuccessful. He told me that he considered me a bad neighbor, principally because of my weak character, which was creating a squirrel problem that would, in time, stretch up and down the block and doom the neighborhood. I hung up the phone, expressing my regret and good wishes.

If you don't find that absolutely delightful, then I feel bad for you and you should not bother with these books. But if you loved it, as you ought, then please pick this up as soon as you can, and be ready for a treat.

[Barbara K · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, the title. I think it’s fair to say that Vera Kelly is less of a mystery to us than she was in the first volume of this series, and as the book progresses, less of a mystery to herself as well. That observation may sound as if this is chick lit (an idea also suggested by the covers of the series’ books). It’s definitely not.

In the first book Vera used her unique basket of skills to good effect to moonlight for the CIA in order to make ends meet - until she becomes disillusioned and walks away. In this book she is forced to reinvent herself again when she loses her job after her relationship with another woman is uncovered and is found to violate her employer’s “morals” policy. (The 60’s weren’t all that liberated after all, were they?) To add insult to injury, that girlfriend leaves her the same day.

Vera decides to channel her inner Philip Marlowe and sets up shop as a private investigator. Her fluency in Spanish helps her land a job looking for a missing teenager from the Dominican Republic, a case that turns out to be immersed in post-Trujillo politics. The plotting is again very tight, alternating between plodding detective work and intense action scenes.

In the background of this intrigue, Vera works on developing a new relationship. Her struggles with allowing herself to become more vulnerable rang true to me. She is a rounded character, someone you might want to know even if it took a while to get close to her.

A comment about Knecht’s nature writing: The book is set in Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Hudson River Valley, and the Dominican Republic, and Vera absorbs and reflects on the weather and the flora and fauna in each environment. It’s a nice addition to a work of crime fiction.

Elizabeth Rogers narrates again, using a voice with little affect, suitable to Vera’s quiet personality.

[Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"'I'm thinking they killed a lot of people, Nick, and are probably still killing a lot of people, and I have no idea what you think two queers from New York are going to get out of hanging around with one of them.'"

I love these books, five stars, why not? Vera's post-CIA-assignment adventures include private investigative work, a trip to the Dominican Republic, further awakenings into American political machinations, and Max the bartender. This is absolutely aces.

"Not long ago I wouldn't have dreamed about doing something this stupid, but now the alternative, which was to go home again and leave everything unsaid for another day, to find my things just where I had left them and wake to another late morning in the quiet house, my dignity intact and my life utterly unchanged, felt false and useless. There was a thinness to this kind of self-preservation. It required so much evasion and restraint, and there was no reward in the end, not really. There was no proctor watching this test, to congratulate me on having avoided again the possibility of looking foolish or dependent, hurt or unprepared. There was no prize waiting for the person who needed the least."

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Vera Kelly is having a really bad day in 1967 in Brooklyn. Her girlfriend has left her and she has been fired from her job when it is discovered that she is a lesbian. Talk about things going wrong. She draws on her CIA background and becomes a private investigator. Things are going OK when a couple hires her to find a young boy from the Dominican Republic.

She really gets wrapped up in the case and goes undercover at a Boys Home and then even flies to the Dominican Republic. She gets into some very ugly situations and there is a surprising twist that almost breaks your heart.

I thought this would be Chick Lit from the cover. It's not. It's got a very strong story line and a remarkable lead character. It's interesting to go back in time and see how oppressive our laws were. This book was a page turner and well written. I am going back to read the first one and will continue to follow her. She is someone to root for.

Thanks to Net Galley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

[Maureen Grigsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the occasional vulnerability of Vera. She is an interesting private detective.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sophomore book is a treat, Vera Kelly is still a mystery in some ways, but yes in this installment we are gifted with a crackling good case utilizing Vera’s special talents and glimpses into the mystery that is Vera and of the era of the 60’s and the Cold War.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much of a mystery/espionage buff but I really enjoyed this one! Second book in a sleuth-centric series of which I haven't read the first one, so i don't know how it compares to WHO IS VERA KELLY? but this is a good solid spy story with a hint of the noir. I like the unusual choice of a female ex-CIA-turned-PI, and i appreciated the realistic depiction of how persecuted women in general were at this time, but particularly queer women. Pulpy, but entertaining well-written pulp.

And, having recently read a "traditional" spy novel absolutely steeped in the male gaze (female characters often appraised for their cup size, an assumption that every woman is thrilled to be groped by a rando, etc), it was refreshing to read a story of that sort free of chop-licking sexism. It's not that Vera is sexless--she meets pretty girls and hooks up with them. She just doesn't treat them like sexual Kleenex. Thumbs up!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Lee Foust · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I myself was writing a novel that turned rather noir, I did a spate of reading a bunch of classic noirs not long ago and somehow this novel hit my radar and I dug up a copy. While I was kind of excited to try a contemporary PI novel and thus hopefully, given a lesbian protagonist, read one that didn't reek of misogyny and racism as most of the noirs of the classic post-WWII period do. In terms of tradition, despite the protagonist becoming a PI in the opening chapters, her CIA background and the case in hand here read a little more like espionage, and the clipped prose style seemed more Ian Fleming than Raymond Chandler (who gets a name check in the novel). This was fine as Fleming is absolutely the worst offender in terms of political incorrectness of any author I've ever read, with the exception of his compatriot Dennis Wheatley. Thus an espionage novel without the racist asides and endless belittling of women was a revisionism devoutly to be wished, to paraphrase Hamlet.

Still, despite the fact that this novel is very smart, is excellently written, has an interesting protagonist and blends the action, politics, period (1967-8), the gay angle, everything super seamlessly and with more than competency, all in all it seemed somehow lusterless compared to the pulp fiction from which it sprang. None of the above elements ever seem to totally get their due or give the narrative an angry raison d'etre that it seemed to need to feel somehow more important. If anything, the love story seemed like the point--thus even the case seemed to happen kind of casually, which is a weird feeling for me to have about it. (But this is true to life: our love stories are always more center stage than our jobs.) Perhaps it's the very same un-selfconsciousness of the mid century noir writers that made their work both politically incorrect (and often just plain nasty) but also so compelling, as in Jim Thompson's work. The Id is a powerful thing perhaps. I dunno. This was a fine read, but also, somehow, at the same time, too fine. Is that possible? 3.5 stars. I will get the third novel in the series as it too looks interesting and I saw here this one has been judged better than the first and through this one I sort of know what went on in the first so more interested to move forward rather than back.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second instalment in the Vera Kelly series is even better than the first. A solid spy story, with more action than the first one, and Vera is still as sardonic and crafty as ever.

Vera Kelly loses her job when her boss overhears her breaking up with her girlfriend. Instead of looking for a new job, Vera decides to use her CIA experience and sets herself up as a private investigator. One day, she accepts a job from a Dominican couple looking for a lost child. While following the child through the foster care system, Vera discovers that whether she's CIA or private eye, in the spy game nothing ever really is at it seems.

The pacing of this book was better than the first. Where the first book switched between storylines from the 1950s and the 1960s, this one stays linear and spans about 8 months. In that time, Vera has to deal with a lot of developments in both her private and professional life, which means that there are a lot less filler scenes in this book.

The depiction of queer life in the 1960s feels extremely real, and it adds another level of danger. Vera is not just ex-CIA, she's not just a private investigator sticking her nose into international affairs, one small misstep in her private life could cost her everything. This book also introduced a few interesting side characters who will hopefully make a reappearance if there's ever a third instalment in the series.

God, I hope there's a third book coming, I'm not ready to say goodbye to Vera Kelly just yet.

(I received a copy from the publisher via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.)

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised and thrilled to see Vera get a second life, doubly so after finishing. Vera’s detecting skills lie in her ability to detect her own bullshit first, and that makes all the difference. If you like heart and humor and hardboiled, serendipitous gaydar, this is for you. So glad this became a series.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cold War era detective/spy novel with a lesbian protagonist. What's not to enjoy?

[Rincey · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3.5 stars, but rounding up because of how much this improves on book 1.

Watch me discuss the book here: https://youtu.be/BkDGg6Z3RL0

[Lisa Daily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Knecht’s Vera Kelly is Not a Mystery! Ex-CIA agent turned private eye Vera Kelly is smart, compelling, and highly adept at navigating the many challenges of living in the 1960s as a gay woman in a man's world. Highly recommended!

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable departure from what I usually read.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I said back August when I read book 1, I don’t know when or why this series was added to my tbr, but I am really glad - it’s a hidden gem for sure! Lacking the glitz, glam, and big drama of usual spy stories, Vera is a normal person handling abnormal situations, which at times can make it seem mundane, but not boring, and makes the moments of suspense even more intense.
Definitely looking forward to book 3 and other works by Knecht.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vera Kelly is not like most mystery books I've read, but I like her. There are times the scene changes and I didn't know why or who was involved, but it all moves the story forward.

I've read 3 books by Knecht this since March. I'm sorry I'm it's going to be awhile before I can read another.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vera Kelly lost her job video editing based on a morals clause in her contract. She also lost her girlfriend on the same day. What to do…..

Become an investigator! That money pit of a house she bought with all of her cash after the debacle in Argentina means she has to have a job pretty quick and what better than being your own boss and doing what you are good at? Private investigator it is then!

For an ex-CIA agent, her new case is sprinkled with dangerous characters from the Cold War landscape. I love how careful she is in her case, how smart, how observant to the smallest detail… makes you wonder why she is just so bad with the details in her personal life…

I really enjoy this series, and Knecht does her homework about the historical goings-on in her time period story about a woman, who is also a lesbian, very smart, very funny, and an ex CIA agent in 1967. You can’t help but love Vera… she is as sharp as she is stupid, observant as she is blind, but always caring, helpful, and straight up. What a great read!

4 stars

Happy Reading!

[Marcy Dermansky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I loved this book. I loved Vera and this mystery and how tough she was and how well Rosalie Knecht took us to the 1960s and what a different world it was, how hard it was to be a lesbian, a single woman. And really, just everything. There was a propulsive quality to this novel. I stayed up super late reading it and now I am sorry it's done. I loved the first Vera book, too, and I hope there is a third.

[Tina Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book so much! I had much better luck with this one than I did with the first. This one is told with a linear timeline and that definitely cut down on the confusion. Plus the pacing is much better in this one. It's still very much a slow burn but it worked much better this time around.

I also really enjoyed Vera's work as a private eye. I liked it so much better than her CIA work. I really enjoy private eye stories anyway but a woman in the 60s is especially fascinating. And I really love the foreign backgrounds these books take on. I was especially interested in all the parts involving the Dominican.

This one was also interesting in terms of queer history. That was more of a side note in the first one. But in this one, Vera loses her job at the beginning because she has a girlfriend. And I really loved her love interest, Max, throughout this one and hope to see more of their story in the future.

There were a lot of interesting side characters in this one that I would love to see more of in the future as well!! So, all in all, this one had more of what I was looking for in the first book? And I also LOVED the ending/last 50 pages. That was more of the payoff I'd been looking for in the first book.

So. I really hope there will be more books in this series! If they are written like this one, I'll definitely read them all!! This is such a fun, interesting series and I highly recommend this book!! This is a great installment in what is turning out to be a very fascinating series!

Thank you so much to Tin House and their Galley Club for sending a copy of this book my way!

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

I honestly thought Rosalie Knecht's second book in A Vera Kelly Story (mysteries) surpassed the first book in many ways. Both Knecht and her protagonist, Vera spent a time finding their voices in Vera's debut. The first story jumped to another country just as I was enjoying getting to know Vera in the U.S. This new story also has Kelly jetting off to a foreign country. This time around Knecht charges Kelly with more purpose. And she's less ambivalent about her sexuality. I really enjoyed the first book. I loved this one. As wishy washy and self-absorbed as Vera Kelly can be, she's coming into her own in Vera Kelly Is Not a Mystery. She's owning her lesbian life in New York City which is no small feat in the late 1960's. And the ending gives the reader just a smidgen of hope Vera might actually open up her heart after she solved her mystery. Love the style, pacing, and story. Great blend of old fashioned private eye feel with a modern independent woman at the helm. Wonderful.

[Hannah Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this series! And I love, love, love Vera Kelly! I think I have found another for the #badassbookbabes list! I absolutely devoured Who is Vera Kelly? which was the first in this series, and I am definitely devouring this one. I love the shift in location for this, where she has to look a lot closer to home in order to search for a missing child, even taking up a boarding school position. However, nothing is purely simple here. Sometimes when you go looking for something or someone, you will find a whole lot more than you were looking for in the first place.

I rated Who Is Vera Kelly? a total of five stars, and it’s no doubt that I will be eating Vera Kelly is Not A Mystery five stars too! Thank you to Verve Books for sending me a gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Carey Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's most delicious about Rosalie Knecht's Vera Kelly series is that Vera can be charming if she wants; vacant yet responsive. She's learned not to resist another personality and can share their same temperament and enthusiasm.

... she's best at hiding in plain sight.

It's easy to become lost in Knecht's brilliant writing (I read this over a weekend); if she were a cinematographer, her locations would be breathtaking - her paintings lustful yet serene in their elegance.

Of Vera remembering her dead father, he was 'a genteel kind of person, unsure of other men, slow to join in jokes, but he had liked baseball ... Little things - the hysterical murmur of color commentary on the radio - brought him back so clearly that he could have been sitting beside me in the car; and yet he answered no questions, offered no explanations. The dead linger, they stay with us, but they don't speak, and anyone who says different is selling something."

What Knect also does brilliantly is place clues. Vera herself tells us who she is and that's what makes her endearing. In the midst of trying to find herself and in the throes of a breakup, she loses her job, both occurring the same day; the two incidents unnervingly connected.

How will our heroine get out of this? This is the true mystery. She plunges in and does what she must - sees hope in a local bartender and becomes a private investigator. Her first assignment takes her out of Manhattan to the Carribean to follow the trail of Dominican exiles, with a halting stop as a social worker. And like a Eric Ambler novel, she's out of her depth, surprised to find herself facing extreme danger; and yet lamenting - she knows she shouldn't be here.

But to Vera Kelly fans, the mission is always secondary; rather it's the psychoanalysis Knect wreaks as Vera wades through the trauma wrought by her mother, her education, her waywardness and obliviousness.

In Vera Kelly is not a Mystery (I'm grateful the title is used in the book), Vera is at her most vulnerable; lacking confidence and self esteem, she's at odds with her profession - where her first instinct is to lie - we see in her ourselves; awkward at pursuing a love interest, and doing everything wrong in that pursuit.

Vera remains haunted by her personal problems and past and present sins and it is no wonder her first case as an investigator involves a child. Yet Knect doesn't allow for sappy contrition but the underpinning; however subtle, remains.

And like the whisky priest in Graham Greene's The Power and the Glory, Vera too "combines a great power for self destruction, a pitiful cravenness, an almost painful penitence, and a desperate quest for dignity."

... and this is why we love her - she's just like us.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even better than the first one! Vera is kind of a mess but she's really good at finding people. Nicely depicted 1960s settings in cold Brooklyn and balmy Dominican Republic. A just-right amount of suspense; intriguing Caribbean politics; queer friendships and romance; and observant, often beautiful writing. Favorite line: "She's as straight as a hat pin, Vera!"

Flawlessly narrated, including Spanish language and Dominican accents, by Elisabeth Rodgers.

[Michaela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn´t finish this book, as the edition of the ebook for the review was so bad you could hardly read it - whole sentences written without a space between the words. I came till about a quarter in the hope it would get better, but gave up then.
Only small thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.